Lady Ai
by Of-the-Rose
Summary: This story is about a young dancer named Ai who takes place during the time of InuYasha. She is stuck in a situation that she cannot seem to get herself out of, will she manage to escape her fate? Or will she be stuck in it forever?
1. Chapter 1

Part 2 – Her Life in the Forest

Part 1 – The Dancer's Getaway

Ai was nothing but a mere dancer, she entertained the Lord with her graceful movements, she was treated better than the villagers, but she was still a low life, nothing special. She was assigned the job of a dancer for her beauty, her face was the key point to her beauty, and each facial feature was perfectly placed on her smooth face. Her hair reached her lower back, very close to her waist. Her body was curved; she was kind of short for her age, but nothing too noticeable.

It was kind of strange though, she had black hair like the common Japanese woman, but instead of the average brown eyes, she was blessed with beautiful jade green eyes. Her skin was very light, almost a white. She had a gift of unnatural beauty; she somehow seemed to stand out. Her nails were naturally sharp, sharp enough to cut skin. She tries to dull them by constantly scratching things; but it never seemed to affect them. Most people try to avoid her, they're afraid that she might be dangerous.

When she was younger, the other children ignored her. They thought she was weird, or creepy. They said things like, "I bet she's a demon! She has claws!" But she wasn't a demon, demon's are different, they have lots of strength and power. Ai was quite weak, easily controlled. She follows every demand that's given to her, even if she doesn't want to. She never seemed to be able to stand up for herself. But she never seems to shed tears, instead she gives sad expressions. Even if she smiles, her eyes always have this sad look in them.

Ai was in her room, a small, dim lit room. She was looking in her mirror, examining her outfit, making sure it was fit for dancing. It was simple, but beautiful. It was a short white kimono with long drooping sleeves; black flowers were printed on certain areas of the white cloth. And a black tie was wrapped around her waist; it had a bow in the back. Her kimono didn't reveal anything but her perfectly proportioned legs. She never wore shoes, she never felt comfortable in them, she thought it was easier to dance without shoes anyway.

There was a knock at her bedroom door, "Lady Ai, the Lord awaits your arrival."

"I'm coming. " Ai replied, she walked out of her room and headed for the main room, where she danced for the Lord. When she arrived, she waited for the music to start. When it did, she started dancing; she had the most graceful movements anyone could ever accomplish. It was a slow song, so she danced slowly.

The Lord watched her with great pleasure; he had always admired Ai. He thought she was so beautiful, and he never looked at any women the way he looked at her. When Ai finished her dance, she bowed and started heading back for her bedroom. "Halt, Lady Ai." The Lord demanded.

Ai froze without a thought of why not to, if she did otherwise, she would be in huge trouble. She turned to face the Lord, her face full of confusion. The Lord spoke once more, "Lady Ai, I have decided to make you my wife, we shall have our wedding at sunset tomorrow."

Ai had no choice, her face changed from confusion to shock. She could not believe the all mighty Lord was saying such things to the likes of her. She nodded and walked very quickly into her room. She was horrified, she did not love the Lord, and she did not wish to marry him. But it was too late now, it's not like she had a choice. He is the Lord, he gets what he wants, and if he wants her. That is just something she would have to deal with.

But she did not want to deal with it; she did not wish to be treated as royalty, she just wanted to be a normal woman. She wanted freedom, freedom to do as she pleases. A dancer was bad enough, being forced to dance for a Lord who desires you when you do not feel the same.

Then she thought of it, she could run away. She could wander the forests and bathe in real hot springs. And eat wild fruit that grew. She loved the sound of it, no more dancing. She would have nothing more than freedom and fresh air.

She decided to get ready; she walked out of her private room and out of the Manor, and into the nearby man-made hot spring created for the village. She stripped off her clothing and gently moved herself into the hot spring. She lay there, relaxed, enjoying the feeling of heat and water. It was late outside, she could see the stars. She always enjoyed bathing late at night, it gave her some privacy, usually people bathe during day, and she wasn't sure why they would want to.

After about twenty minutes or so she removed herself from the hot spring and pulled her clothes on. She headed back towards her room to wait; she was waiting for the perfect moment to leave this place. She went back through the main Manor doors, which were guarded by two men, on either side of the doors.

When she was in her room, she was trying to think of a plan of how to get out of the Manor, she definitely couldn't go through the main doors; she would get caught for sure. Her windows were far too high to jump out of. She decided she would just have to sneak past the guards, she would barely open the doors and squeeze through them, and then she would make a run for it. She didn't know if she could out run the guards, but she might be able to.

An hour later she picked up a small basket made of birch wood and snuck out of her room. When she reached the main doors she felt scared, she wondered what would happen if she got caught. Ai shook her head, she thought to herself, 'This is no time to linger, I have to move quickly.'

She slowly opened one of the two doors to a point where she could barely slip through without the guards noticing the doors were open. She sucked her stomach in as tight as she could and squeezed through the door. Then when she was outside the doors, she ran as fast as she could towards the forests. The guards looked very shocked and turned started shouting and running after her.

Ai ran faster than she ever ran before, she couldn't believe how fast she was running. It was unnatural; she felt a burst of heat swarm through her body. She didn't want to be caged anymore, trapped miserably in her room. It was quite strange that she felt so hot; it was a cold night after all.

She managed to lose them, she was inside the forest. She had a look of confusion on her face, she did not think that she could ever run so fast, to a point were she couldn't even tell where she was going. She thought to herself, 'Was that really me? It's like I couldn't control my self for a moment, I wanted to get away so badly… It's like; my body took over to fulfill my wish… Nonsense! I guess I'm just a fast runner.'

Ai just stopped thinking about it and decided to just be thankful for her talent. She started walking off, deeper into the forest. She saw a tree that seemed comfortable enough to lean against, so she sat in front of it and relaxed. After a while, she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2 – Her Life in the Forest

The guards couldn't believe how fast Ai ran either; there was no way they could catch up to her now. They decided to get back to their job and tell the Lord in the morning.

Finally the sun rose and Ai awoke from her long slumber, she rubbed her eyes then let out a cute yawn, and then she stretched her arms and stood up. She thought to herself, 'I can finally sleep in…' She felt so lazy, she felt as if anything could happen and she wouldn't care. It was nice having feelings like this sometimes.

Ai felt hungry all of a sudden, "I guess I should look for something to eat…" she mumbled to herself. She picked up her basket and started walking off to look for some food, about 7 minutes later she stumbled across some berries. "Oh look, a berry bush." She started picking some berries and placing them in her basket.

The guards ran into the Manor to tell the Lord the news, finally they reached him. "Oh mighty Lord, please forgive our clumsiness, Lady Ai ran away from the Manor last night and we tried to run after her, but she ran like one possessed. I believe she escaped into the forest somewhere." The Lord seemed shocked by their statement,

"Go gather a search party and look for her, if you do not bring her back by sun down then you will be punished for letting her go."

"Yes, my lord." The two guards ran off to take care of their orders.

The Lord seemed stressed, he thought to himself, 'What would make my beautiful Ai want to run away, I can't let this slide. I will find her, no matter what.'

Finally Ai finished picking her berries, her basket was full to the top, 'This is probably going to be the biggest breakfast I have ever had.' She thought to herself with a smile. Then she sat down under a tree to eat, she popped one berry in her mouth at a time.

A little while later the berries were finished, Ai thought to herself, 'I think I'll go look for a river to drink from.' She got up and set off and look for a river, there had to be one around here somewhere.

Finally she came across one; it was a simple river, not very wide. But full of fresh water that sparkled in the sunlight, and fish swam freely through the water. She sat on her knees and leaned over to get a drink, it tasted more alive; it just felt so good eating and drinking without wondering what it was, or where it came from.

Ai didn't get the proper schooling, she was taught the simple and important things and how to dance. That is all she learned, her education was not very advanced at all, and sometimes she felt stupid. She asks herself so many questions, she wonders if she will ever learn. But now the recent moments in her life seem to be rather enjoyable, so she shouldn't worry about things right now.

Ai stuck her feet in the water; she wasn't drinking it anymore, so it was alright. She just swayed her foot around while pointing her toes, her other foot just sat in the water. She watched the fish swim around, freely. Sometimes she thought that it would be lucky to be a fish, you never would have to worry about responsibilities, or getting married, or higher status like a King to a mere villager. But they did have to worry about getting eaten by bigger fish. I guess humans are kind of like that too, they have sharks, humans have demons.

Suddenly this thought popped into her mind, 'But what am I? Sometimes, I don't even know.' She looked down at her claws, 'Why do I have these? They don't suit me, there for a demon; I'm no demon am I?" She remembered what people had told her in the past, they called her Demon, Half-Breed, and Creepy. What was she? Was she just a creepy human that was born with claws? A Demon? She doubted that somehow… 'What am I?'

Ai decided to just stop thinking about it; she just guessed she was an unknown species. Ai sighed; she felt depressed all of a sudden, her happy thoughts of freedom switched to questions. She wished her questions could be answered. Why did she have to be so stupid?

Then a small butterfly with huge white wings with some sort of symbol on one of them started flying towards her, it started to say something? It sounded like some sort of stupid song.

Hey Ai,

What's with the sigh?

Oops, oh my,

I meant "Lady" Ai.

Hey you,

Why so blue?

Oh, boo hoo,

I feel for you.

The butterfly landed on her hand, Ai raised her hand into the air to get a better look at it, and it crawled onto her finger. Ai then spoke, "How do you know my name? I've never seen a talking butterfly before."

"I'm no ordinary butterfly, I'm a demon. I travel the skies watching and gathering information, I want to know everything about everybody, and I know a lot about you, "Lady" Ai."

"I see, what might your name be, oh demon butterfly?"

"Nice choice of words, my name is Mahkio." _(Mah-key-oh)_

"So Mahkio, why did you come and see me?"

"I just felt like it." Ai could feel a sweat-drop of exasperation form on the back of her head because of his response.

"If you know so much about me, could you tell me what I am?"

"What you are? Oh that's easy, your quarter-wolf-demon. You don't act much like one, because you only have so little demon blood in you, but you managed some claws I see." Mahkio looked down at her claw he was sitting on. Ai seemed too shocked to speak at the moment.

"Have you ever seen any signs? Something unusual?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"Umm… Like did you have more strength in you than usual for just a moment?"

"Yeah, like the time I ran insanely fast…"

"Ha! See? That was your little demon blood that took over for a short period of time; I was just trying to see if you remembered, because I saw it myself already. You didn't want to get caught so badly that when you were running, you demon blood took over and you ran as fast as a wolf!"

Ai heard voices, they were voices from far away, and she thought that they sounded familiar. But she wasn't too sure where she heard them before.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3 – The Man She Met

Ai's eyes widened, she remembered those voices! Those were the two guards that were shouting at her when she made her escape. Then she heard it louder and clearer, "Lady Ai! There you are! We've been searching for you all over! Now come back." They were kind of in the distance, but they were in sight and coming closer at a fast speed.

Ai got up and was about to run, but then Mahkio turned into his true form – A Great Moth. Ai knew what to do already, she jumped onto Mahkio's back and he flew into the sky with great speed. She heard the guards shouting, but she couldn't tell what they were saying.

"No! We lost her again! What are we going to tell the Lord?"

"How the hell should I know?! Who was that stupid demon anyway?" … Both the guards sighed,

"Let's just hope the Lord is generous enough to make the punishment something that isn't be-heading…"

Mahkio landed and Ai got off his back, "Thank you so much Mahkio, I don't know if I would have been so lucky to escape again by myself."

"I will have to leave you now, I will come and visit you some other time, but I have to go get some more information."

"Yes, good luck with that!"

Mahkio turned back into his small butterfly form and flew into the sky. Ai watched as he flew off, and through the trees, until he was out of sight. Ai felt relieved, what if Mahkio wasn't there? What would have happened to her? She was so grateful to have him around. She thought to herself, 'I guess, I made a friend?'

Ai noticed it was late, so she decided to go look for a hot spring then find a nice cozy place to sleep. Unfortunately, hot springs are hard to come by. But maybe she will find one if she was lucky, she has been lucky a lot lately.

Ai noticed that she was gripping her basket really tightly, it must be because she was kind of scared and she was holding onto it without exactly noticing, she was just glad she didn't leave it behind. That would be sad, her basket is useful. And for some reason she just likes to have it in her possession.

There was a cherry blossom tree in the distance; she wondered what that would be doing in the forest. Maybe there are just a few in the area. Then an idea came to her, she ran over to the tree and started picking the cherry blossoms, filling her basket with them.

After a bit, her basket was almost full. Ai thought to herself, "I guess that's all I'll need." She started walking off again, with a basket full of cherry blossoms. She was a beautiful sight to see at night, she just seemed so pretty carrying her little basket walking through the night.

"Oh my goodness!" Ai said out loud, kind of to herself though, there _was_ a hot spring nearby, she had been having so much luck lately. She smiled and started sprinkling the cherry blossoms and the in the water. The water smelt like cherry blossoms now, and it just seemed more peaceful to bathe in.

After removing her clothing she got into the hot spring, 'This feels so good…' Ai thought to herself. She sat in the water; she looked very calm, and relaxed. She had her eyes closed. Some of her hair was swimming around her.

She heard voices again, they sounded like men. But they weren't the guards; she tried to listen to what they were saying. She could kind of make out what they were saying.

"Do you think she's sleeping?"

"Yeah I think so."

Ai lightly opened one of her eyes to see who these men were.

"Her eyes are green!"

"She's beautiful…" Ai spotted them. She had to say something.

"It is very disrespectful to spy on a lady when she is bathing you know." She had opened her eyes all the way by now, revealing her full features. The men looked shocked to hear her voice.

"Yeah, but what are you going to do about it? You're just a woman."

Ai was starting to get scared now; Mahkio wasn't here to save her this time, so she would have to figure this one out herself. But how would she get them to leave?

"Why don't you come out?" Ai had a look of disgust on her face.

"Like I would when you're there!" She ducked underwater and swam to the edge of the hot spring and grabbed her basket. She lifted her head out of the water; some of her hair was stuck to her face. "Take this you perverts!" Then Ai threw her basket at them. It hit one of them in the head; it didn't seem to do much beside anger him.

"You'll regret that, wench…"

Then both the men started walking towards her, she couldn't give herself to those losers! But what could she do. She didn't have any weapons and her basket attack didn't help at all. Ai started trembling.

Then all of a sudden something that looked like a whip made of neon green light slashed through both of them, at least that's what she thought it might have been… She wasn't too sure. Ai was in shock, her eyes wide. She saw where the whip came from; it was a very strange looking man… A demon maybe?

But she only saw the back of him, he was turning to walk away, she only saw the front of him for a second or two. He had long silver hair, and he was very tall. She heard him say something to himself. "Humans are disgusting…"

"Wait!" She shouted as she quickly pulled her clothes on and ran up to him. But he just ignored Ai, and continued walking. "Wait! I just want to thank you!" He stopped for a moment, still not facing her "I do not need your thanks." Then he walked off, and was gone.

Ai was irritated, how rude. 'Well, at least he saved me.' She thought to herself. Ai went to go retrieve her basket; she walked over to where she threw it. After she picked it up she walked over to the men. They were completely sliced! Such power that man had. If only she had a chance to talk to him. He seems like he would be hard to talk to though.

She decided Mahkio might know about him, he knew about her. He seemed like he would be a little more known than her. She thought to herself, 'I guess I'll ask him about him next time I see him.'

Ai was now on her way to find somewhere to sleep, she started walking so she could look. After a while she stumbled across a patch of soft fresh grass, it looked comfortable enough, so she made herself cozy there and slowly fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4 – Her Past Revealed

It was the next morning; it was sunny from what Ai could tell. Sunlight broke through a few holes between the leaves, some sunlight shined on her; it must have been what woke her. It must have been very hot outside, but the trees shaded her. Ai thought to herself, 'It's so much better to be awoken by the sunlight then by some servant shaking me.'

Ai stretched, she decided to go look for Mahkio, he seems to be the type that would be hard to find, being so tiny and all. Hopefully he would find her first. She stood up and started walking. Occasionally she would pass through some sunlight causing her dark hair to shine.

It had been around 15 minutes of nothing but walking and searching, she decided to take a rest for a short time. The scent of cherry blossoms still lingered on her. Ai sat against another tree, trees were everywhere and there are no chairs in the forest. Ai thought to herself again, 'Where is Mahkio? Must be spying on someone again… Such a nosy one he is.'

That's just when Mahkio flew up to her, "Hey Ai, how have you been?" Ai smiled at him.

"How generous of you to ask, I've been great so far. But can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do you know of a man, a demon more like? He has long silver hair and- I don't really remember his face too well; I only saw it for a moment. But I believe he had yellow eyes; and a moon on his forehead. I didn't see much of his clothing besides this fur that he hung off his shoulder. Oh! And he has this glowing neon green whip that he uses as a weapon."

"I believe you are talking about Sesshomaru, where did you see him?"

"He saved me from these two men."

"Oh, I should have been there to see that, but yes, I do know him. He is a cold-hearted, mean, demon that hates humans and half-breeds. I have know idea why he would save you."

"Well, he didn't exactly save me; I think he was trying to kill those men. I guess he thought they didn't deserve to live. I don't really know why; but it definitely wasn't for me, I'm sure of that."

"I see."

"And, Mahkio? Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Of course."

"What do you know of my past life? Anything at all?"

"Yes, I know lots and lots about it. Would you like to know?" Ai nodded instead of replying she was prepared to listen.

Past Scene

Ai's father was running through a forest at a very fast pace. After a little while he came across Ai's mother, a beautiful young woman, lying on the forest floor; a blanket over her. It was one of her nights that she transformed into a human, so she was weaker at the moment. She looked like she was in a lot of pain. There was a doctor sitting next to her. Ai's father knelt down next to her. Then he turned to the doctor, "How is she?" he had a look of concern on his face.

"I'm afraid not so well, sir."

"Resemiko, my love... I'm back." He held hold of her hand and began stroking it. "I'm sorry that I had to leave you for a time."

Ai's mother, Resemiko, turned her head toward her lover. The pain seemed to be erased from her face, tears were in her eyes, and you could hear a baby screaming from under the blanket. The doctor quickly went to retrieve it. As he was taking care of the child, Resemiko began to speak.

"It's alright, my love." She let out a weak and sad smile, she continued to talk.

"I think I'm going to have to leave you, though…" Ai's father's face looked horrified.

"No Resemiko, you're going to be just fine…! Don't say such things." He started stroking her face now, he was trembling a little. About a little while her face started to feel cold, her expression seemed to be blank. "Resemiko… Say something, Resemiko." He waited a little while, "Resemiko! Say something!" he started shaking her. "Resemiko!"

The doctor frowned, he was holding the child, and it was all taken care of. It seemed to have fallen asleep; it was wrapped in a small blanket. "I am sorry sir, but I believe she is dead…" Anger shone in her father's eyes, tears streaming down his face. Then he shot a look of anger at the doctor.

"You let her die! You're a doctor aren't you!? You didn't do anything to save her!"

"Do not take it out on me, sir. There was nothing I could do." Ai's father took the baby from the doctor's arms. The anger had left his face, he seemed miserable.

"I am sorry… Thank you... For your, services." A few moments were spent stroking his child.

"Leave!" Ai's father shouted at the doctor. The doctor left, he guessed he wanted some privacy.

Ai's father looked down at his lover, "I am sorry, Resemiko…" he whispered to her.

"I couldn't save you…" He put his child down, and started digging with his hands.

Around 30 minutes later, he placed Resemiko in the hole; it wasn't as deep as he would have wished, but he had to take his child somewhere safe. He was at least happy that he could bury her in the forest instead of the village graveyard, for this is where he visited her every night. He couldn't see her in his village, she wasn't allowed there because she was a half-demon.

Finally she was buried, he wiped his tears and picked up his child, it was still sleeping. He rose from where he sat, and started walking. He thought to himself, 'I will visit you here every night, just like how I did when you were alive…'

He had been walking for a while now, almost out of the forest. He saw a man in the distance. He was one of the village men. He ran up to him, he looked like someone he knew. Then the man started to speak, he looked angry. "I know what you've been doing… You've been seeing that half-breed; she's birthed your child I see… Disgusting." The man pulled out a knife and stabbed Ai's father in the stomach.

Ai's father fell to the floor, he watched him walk off until he was out of sight. He was too weak to stand, so he held on to his child tightly and crawled. He saw a young woman in the distance, he crawled towards her.

The woman noticed him and ran towards him, "Oh my goodness! You must be treated!" Ai's father looked up at her,

"It cannot be helped, please, take my child to safety… I will not live much longer, just please, save it." The woman seemed shocked, but she agreed and took the child from him.

Scene End


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5 - Her Unwanted Return

"And after that, that woman took you to the Manor because she couldn't support you. And around the age of 9, you started training to become a dancer." Ai looked very shocked; she didn't know that all that had happened to her parents. Mahkio started to speak again,

"I must get going now Ai, I'm sorry that our visit was so short."

"It's alright, Mahkio…"

"And you better be cheered up when I come to see you again, or else I will have to sing a song."

Ai smiled at him as she watched him fly away, she sighed. Ai thought to herself, 'What should I do now?' She rose from her seating and looked up at the trees. Then Ai heard those voices again, her eyes widened.

Ai quickly climbed up the nearest tree to a point that she couldn't be reached easily. Then the guards ran over there, they were out of breath. A few other men were behind them. Then one of the guards spoke, "Ai! Get down from there right now! There are people searching all over this forest for _you_, you need to stop hiding and running around and come back. We have already passed the limits and the Lord is furious! Com-"Ai interrupted them,

"Do you ever shut-up?! I get the point already, telling me that won't get me down! What's in it for me anyway? I don't want to marry some ugly snob just to save you! You're still alive aren't you? Isn't that good enough?

"Please Ai, it's the Lords orders, we have no choice but to get you. So you better come down, or I'm going to have to use some force!"

Ai glared at them, "And what are you going to do?" She wasn't sure what they _could_ do to get her down, throw sticks? She was certain that they didn't know how to climb trees, they are guards after all. One of the guards started talking to one of the men,

"Climb the tree and get her down."

"Yes sir."

That man started climbing the tree, Ai's eyes widened. "You aren't going to be able to get me down you imbecile!" When the man got close enough to her Ai started kicking at him.

"Ow!" The man fell off the tree and hit the floor. The guard looked exasperated.

"Ai, stop this child's-play and come down." Ai stuck her head out further so she could stick her tongue out at them. Then her eyes widened as she stumbled and fell out of the tree too. Ai started screaming as she fell then land on top of that man she kicked off.

That's when Ai got up quickly and started running for it. The guards were chasing after her; she wasn't running as fast as she was last time she tried to escape, unfortunately. But she had to escape somehow, she couldn't go back! She didn't want to marry the Lord.

Then Ai tripped, she fell over onto the floor. She thought to herself, 'No! This can't be happening.' Then one of the guards grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Now you are coming back."

"No! Let go of me y-you, you bastard!" Ai started struggling. But it was no use, she was a complete weakling compared to the guard.

The guard started walking off with her, with the other guard and the rest of the men following. The guards knew there way around the forest pretty well, because they got out of there pretty soon. They probably would have gotten out of there faster if Ai wasn't such a pain.

Finally they arrived at The Manor; the guards took Ai to the Lord. The Lord glared at her, "Ai, tell me exactly _why_ you took off and made me have to send people after you." Ai seemed very depressed but she showed no tears.

"Are you stupid? It's because I don't love you and I don't want to be stuck with your for the rest of my life!" Ai spat at his feet, both her arms were being held by the guards so she couldn't move.

The Lord smacked her, "Don't you dare speak to me like that!" Ai thought to herself, 'Mahkio… Someone, save me.'

"Put her in a spare room; don't let her out until she has learned to grow up!" The guards nodded and started walking off with her, Ai kept on struggling; she hated being controlled. She wanted to be free, live her own life.

The guards pushed her into a spare room. Once she was in they shut the door and locked it. "Let me out you bastards! Let me out!" Ai used all her strength to try and open the door, but it was useless.

Ai finally calmed down and decided to accept her fate, what could she do now? She couldn't do the same thing again, her door was locked. Ai sat on a chair next to the window and looked out of it, she saw the forest. She wished she could be there again…


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6 – Her Stubbornness Kicks In

Ai continued to stare outside the window, how would she escape this time? She started thinking to herself. 'Maybe if I continue _misbehaving _I can stay in this room and avoid marrying that idiot.' Ai sighed, what would she do? Her plan would probably last for a while, but what if he started getting impatient? There was no way out of this mess.

Ai couldn't believe this was happening to her, she had only just recently escaped this place, but now she was back where she started. She rose from the chair and looked around the room, it was alright, but she wouldn't call it a place that would located in a "Manor". The whole place didn't really seem like a Manor, more of a big house that was fancier than the rest of the village homes.

If Mahkio would have just stayed a little bit longer none of this would never had happened, she can't blame it on him though. It was her fault for falling out of the tree. And Mahkio doesn't even know what happened, hopefully he would save her.

Ai laid on the thick blanket that was on the floor, she thought to herself, 'What a stupid excuse for a bed, I can't stand it here.' Ai turned to her side, it was kind of cold in the room, and her legs were freezing. She laid there for a while, lost in thought. Eventually she fell asleep, even though it was still during the day.

An hour had passed and Ai found herself in a different room, it was much fancier than the other room she was stuck in. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, she thought to herself; 'Did I fall asleep? Where am I?' She stood up and decided to see if the door was unlocked, but she doubted that.

Ai tried sliding open the door but it wouldn't open. She sighed, what was she to expect? But then she saw the door open right before her eyes, the Lord had opened it. This must have been _his_ room. Ai gasped as moved out of the way and backed up against a wall, the Lord walked in and looked at her. "I see you're finally awake; I was wondering when that would happen."

"W-Why did you bring me into your room?"

"Why else? You seemed to have calmed down now, so I made this _our_ room now. We are getting married tomorrow." Ai's eyes widened.

"Do I ever get a say in anything?! What if I don't want to?!"

"Do you think I care what you want?" … Ai was silent, she felt so controlled, like she was nothing more than some stupid future trophy wife. He didn't even love her? He just, wanted her.

Shadow appeared over her eyes, she slid down the wall she was backed up against, and she pulled her knees up to her chest. The Lord noticed her, "You're too sensitive Ai; I don't see how that could possibly offend you so much." The Lord didn't seem to care, his expression looked bored.

The Lord walked over to her, he tried to grasp her arm to pull her up; but Ai shouted at him miserably. "Don't touch me!" Then she scratched his arm with her claws and stood up quickly. She ran to the other side of the room. Tears filled her eyes, which was very uncommon.

The Lord cried out in pain from the cuts in his arm. He shot a glare at Ai, "You wench! You will pay for that!" He walked up to her and grabbed her arm; then he walked out of the room with her. He took her over to the guards,

"I want you to trim her claws to normal nails, now!"

"Yes sir." The guards replied, they took Ai from him and started walking off with her. Ai's looked up at one of the guards miserably, tears down her face.

"P-Please, let me go…" The guard ignored her and continued walking off with her.

The Lord was having his arm healed by a female servant of The Manor, he seemed highly irritated, he thought to himself. 'Stupid wench, how dare she do this to me. Just when I was going to get busy with her…'

The young servant smiled at him, "All done!" The Lord took his arm from her and stood up, he walked out of the room and ordered one of the servants to prepare a dinner for him. The Lord sat on a chair that was in the main room to wait.

After about 12 minutes or so the guards came out with Ai, her claws sharpened down to nails. One of the guards spoke, "We are done sir? Is this suitable?" The Lord grabbed one of her hands and looked at it.

"Yes, it's fine. You may go back to your duty."

"Yes sir."

The guards left the room and the Lord was still holding on to Ai's hand. Ai seemed not so depressed anymore, more of scared. The Lord pulled on her hand causing her to fall onto his lap, he gripped her around the waist so she couldn't escape. "You look so much better now Ai, now that those nasty claws of your's are gone."

Ai was trying to pull herself away from him, she felt uncomfortable in his grasp. "Let go of me!" Ai demanded, her eyes shut tight.

"Stop struggling!" – Ai stopped, she still had an eerie feeling, she wanted to be let go of desperately.

Then the servant arrived with the Lord's dinner, he held it out. "Take that from him, Ai." Ai took the dish and chopsticks from him.

"Leave us." The Lord demanded the servant. He quickly walked off. The Lord spun Ai around,

"Now feed it to me."

Ai had a look of disgust on her face, she picked of some of the food with the chopsticks and placed it in his mouth. Ai thought to herself, 'This is so gross, I hate it! I wish he would just let go of me, his breath stinks.'

After a little while the plate was empty, the Lord called over one of the servants and they took the plate away from Ai. Then the Lord pulled her closer, Ai felt disgusted. "Look at me." Ai looked in his direction, the Lord started pulling his face towards hers.

Ai started pulling her face away, it was kind of difficult though; since he was grasping her so tightly. Ai started screaming when he got too close and bit his lips with all her force. The Lord let go of her quickly and put his hands over his mouth. Ai was laying on the floor, shocked. She could NOT give her first kiss to him.


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7 – Her Argument with the Lord

The Lord looked really pissed, Ai was kind of scared. She thought to herself, 'What have I done? This is horrible…' She got up and started running away from him, she heard him shout something; before she knew it she saw the guards after her. She wasn't trying to escape, she just wanted to get away from the Lord, and he had been really creepy lately.

But what was she supposed to do? Let him do whatever he wants? If she did do that her first kiss and her virginity would probably be gone by now. Ai was running as fast as she could, and the two guards were after her. She wished that she could run faster; kind of like how she did that one time when she was first running away from the guards.

The guards were catching up to her fast, what was she to do now? There is no way she could out-run the guards at this speed, was she going to get caught? Ai was out of breath, she could barely run anymore. She wasn't exactly running; her run seemed to turn into a jog.

The guards managed to catch up to her; they each grabbed on to one of her arms. Ai didn't even bother to struggle; she was too out of breath. That's when the Lord walked up to them. "You have gone way too far this time, Ai." The Lord faced the guards.

"Take her back to my room."

"Yes sir." The guards headed towards the Lord's room, following after the Lord.

After a short amount of time, they all reached the Lord's room. Ai thought to herself, 'Why _his_ room?' Then the guards passed Ai to the Lord and left. The Lord took Ai into his room. Then the Lord spoke, "Now Ai, you are going to pay me back for all of the poor deeds that you have done." Ai sat on the floor and stretched.

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"You don't exactly have to do anything." Ai looked at him weird.

"Alright then, what was the point of that?"

Ai was confused; she had no idea what he was talking about. He said that she was going to pay him back, but by doing nothing? She didn't understand at all. What was he trying to say?

Ai noticed that it was late; she had to get out of here. Tomorrow she was going to get married to the Lord. She could not let that happen. Ai looked up at the Lord with confusion written all over her face, she had so many questions. Then the Lord spoke, "You are so slow Ai, you should have caught on by now."

Then the Lord grabbed onto her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Then what do you mean?" Ai pulled her arm away after she was standing.

"Maybe you aren't doing anything, but what about me?" Ai gasped.

"And what are you going to do?"

"Well, we are getting married tomorrow."

"And…?"

Ai was positive about what he was talking about, but she did not want to admit it. The thought scared her, why could it have been someone better? Someone she loved? Though, there wasn't anyone she loved, but still. She might fall in love someday, she did not love the Lord, and she wished that it could be someone else right now. Or she would be happy if it wasn't even happening at all.

Ai backed away after what he said, she did not feel comfortable being very close to him at the moment, though she backed up a bit too much and she ended up having her back pushed up against a wall, which was kind of worse in her opinion.

Ai thought that she might be able to trick him; she put on a sleepy expression, and then let out a yawn. "I'm kind of tired… Can we talk about this later? I can't understand you too well at the moment." The Lord looked irritated,

"Are you sure Ai? You seemed perfectly fine a moment ago…" He looked suspicious.

"Yeah, I'm sure…"

"Well, I'm not so sure, I think your lying."  
"Oh, so you don't trust me?"  
"Not really."

Ai looked irritated; she wasn't pulling it off too well, what could she do? Then the Lord spoke again, "You're a horrible actor Ai, you don't look tired at all." Ai's expression looked shocked,

"Can I please just go to bed? I do not want to go through whatever you are trying to do, and it is late! So just leave me alone!"

"You are not going to bed until I am tired as well."

"And when will that be?"

"When I'm finished with you."

Ai looked really shocked, she knew what he meant by that. But she tried to ask herself what it meant to try and make her think it meant something else. She was really scared right now, what would end up happening?

"You aren't going to lay a finger on me _oh_, _mighty Lord_! You got that!" Ai screamed at him, she said it without thinking, she really did not want this to be an experience for her, and she just wanted to go back to the forest and see Mahkio, and live a life of freedom. Not be stuck married to the Lord and live the rest of her youth in misery.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8 – Her Escape

The Lord raised an eyebrow at her statement, "You think so? What if I do?" The Lord seemed to be waiting for her reply, Ai thought to herself, 'Is he being amused by this? If that's the case then I should try to bore him.'

Ai put on a bored expression, and then she sat on the floor and pretended to act as if he didn't exist. The Lord watched her, he seemed to be confused. "Ai? What are you doing?" Ai ignored him, she continued to sit there and do nothing. Then the Lord started to speak again,

"Ai, we are going to finish this tomorrow, afterour wedding."

The Lord laid on his bed, Ai thought that he must have gotten tired. But what about her? She just had a nap a little while ago. There was no way she would be able to fall asleep at the moment. She also noticed something, was she going to sleep on the floor? He never said anything about her sleeping on the bed, which was a good and a bad thing in her opinion, even if she has to sleep on the cold wooden floor instead of a comfortable bed that looked like it was supposed to be for a god, she wouldn't have to worry about him trying anything scary when she's lying next to him in a bed.

It had been about 2 or 3 hours of Ai trying to get to sleep on the floor, the Lord was already deep in sleep, then she heard a little tapping noise coming from the window. Ai thought to herself, 'What is that?' She turned towards the window to see Mahkio fluttering in front of it. Ai's eyes widened and she quickly got up and ran over to window. When she reached it she opened it, the Lord didn't bother to lock it because his room was quite high up.

"Mahkio! I'm so glad to see you!" She looked relieved as she said that.

"I was wondering where you were, now hop on." Mahkio turned into his great moth form and waited for Ai to get on.

"You came just in time; I was going to get married tomorrow!" Ai climbed onto his back and Mahkio started flying off with her on his back.

After a short period of time they reached the forest, once Mahkio landed Ai climbed off of him. "Thank you so much Mahkio! I don't know what I would have done if you didn't rescue me. There was no way I would have been able to enjoy my life if he was in it!" Mahkio turned back into his small moth form.

"You're welcome, Ai. Now, I'm going to back to the Manor so I can give that Lord a good morning when he wakes up."

Ai looked confused but she didn't say anything, she just smiled and replied. "Do as you wish." And before she knew it she saw Mahkio flying off back to the direction he was flying from. Ai noticed that the sun would probably be coming back up soon. She decided to try and get a little bit of rest now so she wouldn't be too off schedule. It would be easier going to sleep now because she didn't have to be worrying about what would happen if she woke up the next morning.

Mahkio flew back through the open window; Ai didn't bother to shut it. He fluttered in front of the Lord and landed on his nose, he thought to himself. 'Wow, he looks ugly when he's sleeping. And he snores too!'

It had been 4 hours since then and Mahkio hadn't moved. The sun was coming up; an estimation of the time would be about 5:30 AM. Mahkio had just been sitting on his nose waiting for him to wake up, and trying to ignore his snoring and stinky breath.

The Lord slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a close up of Mahkio's face. He quickly sat up and started slapping at his nose and yelling. But Mahkio quickly flew away from his nose before his hand touched him. The Lord seemed irritated; it _was_ kind of a strange thing to see first thing in the morning. But that's when Mahkio started to say something.

"Hey, Lord,

What's with the snore?

It made me sore,

That's hardcore.

The Lord looked at the small moth fluttering in the air, "Who the hell are you?! Where did you come from? How are you talking? Where is Ai? Why is my window open?" Mahkio flew in front of him.

"No wonder Ai doesn't want to marry you, you're retarded. Why ask so many questions at once?"

"I'll kill you, you stupid moth."

"Oh really?" The Lord looked pissed; Mahkio was obviously getting on his nerves.

"Why are you here?"

"Another question? Well, I just wanted to say good morning and that you need leave Ai alone. And with that, I must leave, farewell."

Then Mahkio flew out through the open window and started to make his way back towards the forest. After a short amount of time he reached Ai, who was leaning against a tree sleeping. She looked so much better than the Lord did when he was sleeping. She was breathing deep, but not snoring. And her eyes weren't squinted shut but closed lightly and she wore a peaceful expression.

Mahkio landed on a flower that was near her, he decided it would be best if he were to be there when she was to awake.

Shortly after Mahkio had arrived, Ai's eyes fluttered open. "Mahkio? You're back already?"

"Yes, and I had a short conversation with the Lord, I don't' blame for not wanting to marry him."

"Well, I'm glad to see you're alright."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I thought that he might have hurt you or something."

"That idiot wouldn't be able to touch me; I'm much too fast for him."

"Well, that's good."

"Ai, I must get going now. I will come back to check on you later, don't you get caught again."

"Don't worry, I won't."

Mahkio started to fly away now; Ai noticed that the sun was sort of coming up. But it would take about an hour for it to fully rise. She also noticed that her basket was sitting near her; Mahkio must have retrieved it for her. Ai smiled at it, and then she picked it up.

Ai stood up and decided that she should try to find herself something to eat; she hadn't eaten anything except those berries she ate a long time ago, she was starving. She also needed to get farther into the forest; she was only just a little past the border of the forest. And the last thing she wanted to do was to get caught again.

Ai started walking; she examined her surroundings as she walked through the forest. She had to find something edible. Then she smelt the scent of fish nearby. She remembered the area she was in, that river must have been nearby. She was quite thirsty, and fish sounded like something decent she could eat. But sadly, she didn't know how to make a fire.

Before Ai found the river, she smelt the scent of cooking fish getting stronger. Then she saw a berry bush, it must have been the same berry bush she ate from last time. She started to pick the berries and place them in her basket when she heard voices from the other side of the bush. One of the voices was kind of irritating and hard to listen to, and the other sounded like a young girl.

Ai peeked over the bush to see who it was, she saw the two people that were talking, it was a young girl like she had expected. And from what she could tell an imp demon. She noticed that they were roasting fish over a small fire.

That's when Ai saw something that she didn't expect, it was that man that killed those two men, and she believed he was called Sesshomaru, if she remembered correctly. He was leaning against a tree, watching them. Ai thought to herself, 'Is that really him? I didn't expect to run into him again.'


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9 – Survival

Sesshomaru caught Ai's scent a long time ago, but he didn't expect her to get so near. He shot a glare at the bushes where Ai was watching him. Ai gasped and ducked so she couldn't be seen, but unfortunately for her no one was stupid enough to not think she was there after she gasped like that. Ai could feel her heart beating faster; how would she get out of this situation?

Rin and Jaken had stopped talking now; they were both looking at the bush. Ai knew that eyes were on her, and that something was going to happen, there was no way they were just going to sit and stare. Then she heard that really irritating voice again, "Lord Sesshomaru, would you like me to take care of the girl?" Then the she heard the girl's voice.

"No Master Jaken, I don't think she meant any harm."

"You stupid girl! She was spying on Lord Sesshomaru!"

"But she didn't do anything!"

Ai heard them continue to talk, they had obviously gotten into some sort of argument, maybe this could be her chance to escape. Sesshomaru rose from where he was sitting and pulled out his sword without a word. He walked behind the bush and pointed his sword at Ai's neck.

"Why are you here?" Ai felt terrified, she thought that she might as well answer, she thought to herself, 'Is he threatening to kill me?'

"I-I just, umm… Saw the glow from your fire, and-" Sesshomaru interrupted her.

"Leave or I will have to kill you." Ai didn't disobey, she quickly scooted away from him, picked up her basket, got onto her feet and ran as fast as she could, she had never felt so scared before in her life.

Sesshomaru sheathed his blade and walked back over to the tree he was leaning against. Jaken began to say something, "Lord Sesshomaru, how come you didn't just kill the girl right when you had the chance?" Sesshomaru didn't reply; he seemed to be thinking to himself.

Ai stopped running, she was exhausted. She hoped that she was far, far away from him, he was scary, he could have killed her! Ai sat down, breathing hard. She hoped that she would never run into him again. After a short time she calmed down, she was still hungry, and now she wasn't able to get any fish from the river because they just had to be there.

It didn't really matter though; she wouldn't have been able to cook it anyway, she didn't know how to start a fire.

Ai decided to get over it and find something else to eat; she got up and started walking off. She doubted she was going to be able to come across anything in this part of the forest. The part she ran away from was where all of the good stuff was, at least from what she experienced while being there.

Ai noticed that the sun had finally finished coming up, it was early day now. At least she could see better, it would help her find something to eat. Ai thought to herself, 'I hope I can find something, I haven't eaten anything since those berries…'

It had been about 20 minutes of Ai searching for something edible, but she couldn't come across anything. All she saw was trees and grass, but she couldn't eat those.

But that's when she saw an acorn tree, she didn't know what acorn's tasted like, but squirrels could eat them, right? Ai climbed the tree and sat on one of its branches. It took her a little struggling to climb while holding her basket, but she managed.

Ai picked an acorn and cracked it open to get the nut inside. After she got it she placed it in her basket. She did this for a while, and eventually got a decent amount, she didn't fill it to the top like she did when she was picking berries. But it wasn't as easy to get acorns as it was just to pick berries.

Ai climbed down from the tree, she looked down at the acorns in her basket. She hoped that it wouldn't taste too bad. She sat on the floor and put one in her mouth, it defiantly wasn't what she wanted it to taste like. But it was enough for her to survive eating it.

It took her longer than it did to eat the berries, probably because the berries tasted better, Ai thought to herself, 'How do squirrels survive eating this stuff all the time?' She managed to finish the nuts, even though they didn't taste very good, she wasn't hungry anymore.


End file.
